Where's Its Brain?
by daeshie o'rivers
Summary: Harry noticed Malfoy slipping the journal into the cauldron, and now is crouded around it with hermione and ginny transfixed at the message it holds I AM LORD VOLDEMORT....now what?....
1. Cauldrons and Pens

The sky is gray and white and cloudy,

Sometimes I think it's hanging down on me.

And it's a hitchhike a hundred miles.

I'm a rag-a-muffin child.

Pointed finger-painted smile.

I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while.

-Simon and Garfunkel

CHAPTER ONE: CAULDRONS AND PENS

"Here," Harry said gruffly to Ginny, "you can keep these." He dumped his Defense books in Ginny's second-hand cauldron, stubbing his finger when he saw a horribly familiar blond head.

"Malfoy."

The Slytherin nodded at him in disdain, looking over at Mrs. Weasley who was looking through the cooking books. "Mudbloods and Weasleys, Potter? I thought you could sink no lower."

Harry glared at the blonde, itching to pull out his wand and hex Malfoy. His attention was diverted, however, by the scuffle going on beside him.

"I do hope they are paying you over-time at work, Arthur, but judging by the state of this," here the extra-large version of Malfoy brandished Ginny's frazzled transfiguration book, "I think not."

_Basic Transfigurations_ by Mafilda Hopkirt made a slight clang, as they dropped in the pewter cauldron and something black protruded from the inside cover of the book. Despite himself, Harry found himself reaching for the book, his curiosity egging him on.

The seeker carefully peeled the leather cover from the first page and found…nothing. He flipped through it, and flickers of empty parchment flipped until he reached the end, where a name was inscribed. "Tom Marvolo Riddle"

Harry closed the book as loudly as he dared (which was just about as loud as a silencio) and stuffed it in his bag hurriedly, hoping no one had seen him. The rest of the trip flew past him without any consideration, and Harry almost forgot the get Hedwig some Owl Treats…

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"Hermione!" Harry whispered urgently, knocking on her door. "Hermione! Me and Ron need to tell you something."

Ron made a movement as if to stop Harry, reconsidered, and pulled his hand back.

Hermione popped her head out of her door, glaring at the two boys "What do you want?" she snapped in a sleepy charade of her usual know-it-all voice.

"Lucius Malfoy slipped something in Ginny's cauldron and I found it." Said Harry while Ron muttered "I need to use your loo."

The bushy-haired girl sighed, shook her head, and opened the door, ushering them in. Ginny sat cross-legged on her bed, looking at them curiously. Ron opened his mouth, bent on ostracizing his younger (and only) sister, but his friends beat him too it.

Harry and Hermione plopped by Ginny on the bed (Harry pausing to make sure he wasn't intruding) and opened the journal. Ron sighed, clearly annoyed, and made his way to the loo before anything exciting started.

Hermione starting flipping through it authoritatively, making curious humming sounds at odd intervals. "Ginny," she said finally, "pass me your wand…they haven't placed the tracking charm yet." Ginny grinned and handed over said wand, which had been in her nightstand drawer.

The elder girl fingered the wand, making sure it wouldn't blow her up, before stabbing it at the journal and commanding "Montri Sove Segretos (1)" nothing showed up. Hermione chucked the journal at Harry and glared at him "write something in it." She suggested.

Harry shrugged and searched in his hoody pocket for a muggle pen. Retrieving one (with a mental victory dance), he flipped to the only page with any writing. It wasn't anything interesting, however, because all it said was "October 24".

"Who are you?" Harry wrote down in his messy scrawl, ignoring Ginny's gasp of amazement at the ball-point pen. They all waited for a few moments, waiting for some type of reply (or in Ginny's case for her brother to get out of the bathroom). Finally, there was a reply. Though in some way they had been expecting it, they were never-the-less surprised when "Tom Marvolo Riddle" showed up. Then slowly, enchantingly, the letters began rearranging themselves and in a matter of seconds it had a new message: "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT"

Harry was snapped out of his trance by the flush of the toilet, and noticed that Ginny and Hermione were stock-still. He slammed the book shut, now more sure than ever that no good could come from that book. Ron stood at the bathroom door, staring at them.

"Where's its brain?" he quipped.

TBC

(1) a mix of French, Italian, and Portuguese translations for "show your secrets"


	2. Snap, Crackle, and Pop

Harry clicked his pen contemplatively, and turned to Ginny. "Ginny, you need to wake up your dad."

"What?" whispered Ron, horror filling his voice. "Dad'll wake up Mum, and she'll have kittens!"

"RON!" interrupted Harry, "we _need _to get this to the Headmaster!"

Ron shook his head, red smearing in Harry's vision. "So what," he defended, "someone decided to play a prank and pretend they were you-know--"

Harry silenced him with a glare, and Ginny got off the bed, giving Ron a disgusted look. "This isn't something to play around with, Ronald."

Hermione even added her two pence with "This is _obviously _dark magic!"

Ginny was out of the door.

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"Dad!" whispered Ginny, shaking Mr. Weasley's shoulder. "Dad wake up…we need to get Headmaster Dumbledore!"

The head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department shot up from the couch he was napping in. "What!" he asked, getting to his feet and already holding the jar of floo power.

"Get Headmaster Dumbledore! He'll understand once he gets here! There is _dark _magic going on!"

Arthur Weasley complied immediately, recognizing his daughter's authoritative voice, mini-molly indeed.

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Harry was in front of the stair case by the time Dumbledore had flooed to the Burrow, in a resplendent purple nightgown (with matching lemon drop cap).

"Professor!" Harry sighed, relieved. "I'm afraid you'll have to come upstairs, I didn't want anybody to touch it."

Harry led the elderly (but agile) wizard to Ginny's room, where Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were against the wall. Sitting innocently on the middle of the bed was the journal, still open to the page of their conversation.

Dumbledore looking very grave as he surveyed the journal; he reached for his cap and pulled out a lemon drop from it, sucking on it to ease his thoughts.

"Watch" intoned Harry quietly, pulling out his own wand. He touched it lightly to the parchment where it made a sizzling sound.

Dumbledore's face darkened further. Finally, he spoke "Thank you for bringing me here, but I'm afraid I'm going to need your assistance, Harry."

Harry nodded readily, sticking his wand in his sleeve; he then took Ginny's pillow cover (with her permission of course) and held the book with it. The aged headmaster nodded approvingly. "Come, Come."

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TBC

Please review! I've really worked hard on this one.


	3. Ministry Pamphlets

CHAPTER 3: Ministry Pamphlets

Dumbledore ushered Harry into the floo, throwing n some powder for him and whispering something under his breath, Harry thought he heard the word "acid pops" but immediately dismissed the idea.

Two wooshes of a fireplace later, and a hum of a silver trinket on the mantle, Harry and Dumbledore were sitting in the famous circular office with Fawkes on his perch. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, in his high-backed chair; his expression was one of utmost concentration as he prodded his finger under his chin. The younger (by at least 150 years) fidgeted in the guest chair, wand sticking to the sweaty inside of his sleeve.

"Er….Professor?" Harry finally interrupted after several minutes.

Dumbledore's eyes alighted and his sat up straighter, "oh yes, yes, my dear boy, do forgive my old mind."

Harry shrugged noncommittally, and unraveled Ginny's light blue pillow case from the diary. He looked up at the cerulean blue eyes and understood that he was there for a reason, "so…what do you want me to do?"

Dumbledore smiled at him sadly, and sighed, "Take out your wand and hold it in the palm of your hand, now open to the page you wrote on."

Harry looked up sharply, wondering how Dumbledore had known that they had written anything. Dumbledore simply smiled bemusedly upon him, so Harry did as instructed.

"Good, good. Now take the same hand with the wand…yes move the wand a bit…that's the ticket, and open very carefully to the exact page."

These instructions weren't hard, seeing as the ballpoint pen had lodged itself in the book. The page was empty, however, which caused Dumbledore to lean forward and sigh.

"My dear boy," Dumbledore sounded reluctant, "could you please write what you wrote down previously?"

Harry nodded, and clicked the ballpoint pen into life, as Dumbledore muttered 'ingenious'.

Once again, in Harry's flustered scrawl, was the all important question, "What is your name?"

The book replied once again, but this time the letters didn't rearrange. Harry frowned, "But it did something else, professor, it also spelt out I am-"

"-Lord Voldemort," Ended Dumbledore wearily.

"How did you know that?" asked the seeker sharply.

Dumbledore smiled and answered evasively "I was transfiguration teacher at the time, ask Myrtle."

Harry nodded, deciding to ask Hermione about Myrtle later (the most important question being 'who the hell is she?')

"Headmaster," started Harry, "my wand…Ginny's wand didn't do that; and why have I not received a ministry owl yet?"

"As you know, Harry, your wand was made of the same core as Voldemort's (brother wands, I believe the term is), Fawkes gave those feathers…"

"and they reacted together," whispered Harry under his breath.

Gandalf-wannabe nodded serenely.

"And the ministry owl?" prodded Harry finally.

Dumbledore smiled indulgently, "well, Harry, I suppose this should be confidential, but the ministry tracks magic by zone, so if magic is used in the vicinity of an over-age wizard or witch, it is ignored, but if it is used in an area where the unger-age criminal is the only wizard or witch in the area they are automatically sent a letter. To hide their _unique _way of handling underage magic the ministry published a pamphlet on the tracking charms supposedly put on wands here."

"So does that mean…"

"Yes," nodded Dumbledore, "and I'm sure you won't tell any of your friends?"

Dumbledore winked.

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TBC

Tell me what you thought!


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